Canada now has more automated Bitcoin tellers than any other country, largely thanks to the efforts of Ottawa startup BitAccess.

The year-old firm, still operating partly from within Invest Ottawa’s offices on Aberdeen Street, has designed, manufactured and shipped more than 60 Bitcoin ATMs to cities all over the world and 12 across Canada, cementing the country’s position as the world leader in Bitcoin ATM access.

On Wednesday, Cavirtex, an online digital currency exchange in Calgary, announced the availability of six new Bitaccess ATMs in Toronto, pushing that city to the global forefront in Bitcoin ATM access.

“Launching these Bitcoin Teller Machines in Canada is a significant milestone that will let anyone with a cellphone and cash buy Bitcoins instantly,” said Joseph David, chief executive of Cavirtex. “It’s a big first step.”

Ottawa already has a Bitcoin ATM operating in the Clocktower Brew Pub in the ByWard Market. That machine was also created by BitAccess.

According to Ryan Wallace, one of the company’s four co-founders, the company isn’t a supporter of Bitcoin specifically but rather believes that new forms of digital currency, also called alt (alternative) coins will be the future of payment systems everywhere.

“We’re agnostic. We really don’t care if it’s Bitcoin or any other alt-coin. Right now, Bitcoin it the leader, so we’re focusing on Bitcoin. But it’d be quite easy to switch over to any other alt-coin,” said Wallace. “We can do any alt-coin under the sun. For now we’re sticking to Bitcoin, because even Bitcoin is a bit much for people to get their heads around.”

Bitcoin is a controversial and volatile digital currency. The first thing to know about the currency is that it is all bit and no coin. There is no actual Bitcoin. Pictures of piles of B-emblazoned coins exist simply for illustration purposes.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that exists solely online. Unlike precious metals or more traditional forms of currency, which hold value because they are backed by a country or are used to manufacture goods, Bitcoin is only buoyed by market demand. There are only 12.3 million virtual Bitcoins in circulation and they are traded through a peer-to-peer computer network, much as people used to share music files. A person’s Bitcoins are collected in a digital wallet, which also holds security codes proving the holder is the rightful owner of the currency.

The fledgling currency, and other alt-coins, have attracted the attention of the underground economy. So far, none of the currencies is government regulated, and trading in them is still anonymous. The Silk Road, a website dealing in drugs and illicit substances that was taken down by police last year, used Bitcoin to facilitate transactions.

Still, there are legitimate uses for Bitcoin. The digital currency can be used to send money to friends and family abroad without the high fees associated with transferring funds through a bank. Online retailers are increasingly accepting the currency as a means of escaping ever-escalating transaction fees. Retailers including Buy.com, TigerDirect, and Overstock.com all accept Bitcoin. The traction has seen other coins, such as DogeCoin and LiteCoin, among dozens of others, pop up to compete with Bitcoin.

As the interest in the digital currency, specifically Bitcoin, booms, so do the orders for BitAccess’s machines. The currency was valued at $13 U.S. per Bitcoin in December of 2012, and it hit a peak of $1,240 U.S. per Bitcoin in December 2013, a 9,000-per-cent increase. One Bitcoin was worth $597.35 on Wednesday.

Wallace said Wednesday’s announcement from Cavirtex marked the biggest order the company has received for its ATMs. On top of the six new machines being installed in Toronto, Cavirtex has purchased four more, bringing the total order up to 10. He said the company is working to complete 100 machines that have been ordered for shipment to cities around the world. All of the machines are manufactured in Ottawa.

“It just took off,” said Wallace. “It’s grown exponentially. We’ve got customers in the U.S. and Australia and Mexico, and pretty much all over the world.”

The machines allow people to make a cash or mobile payment with a cellular phone and receipt for up to $3,000 worth of Bitcoin. Redeeming those Bitcoins for cash at a later date will require a computer and an Internet-based alt-coin exchange, which will determine the value of the Bitcoins the users possess and exchange those for an electronic payment.

The sale to Cavirtex is a solid success for a self-funded, 12-man company. To keep up with global orders, the company just opened offices in California’s Silicon Valley and is opening a third office in Europe. But as the business continues to grow, the spectre of competition looms. Several companies have popped up to compete in the space with BitAccess, and if the market gets large enough, it will undoubtedly attract the attention of industry giants such as NCR Corp., which is the largest maker of consumer transaction technologies and responsible for a vast majority of ATM machines founds in major banks around the world.

It’s an issue that Wallace and his three co-founders are already preparing for. He hopes the company’s expertise and momentum in the space helps it continue to expand.

“NCR can beat us on hardware all day long, but they have no expertise in Bitcoin software,” he said. “It becomes more about the Bitcoin software and less about the hardware. I don’t think they could flip the switch and have something out there tomorrow. It’d take them a considerable amount of time to catch up to where we’re at.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.